FunnyPhilly.com

   I want to make strong initiations (the kind that naturally carry the rest of the scene) and hold onto them. It’s so easy to make an initiation, forget it, and move onto something else, when ideally everything you need to do the rest of the scene is already right there. Unfortunately, I, like many others, have faults and easily get distracted from my initiation. Then, I fumble around at the top of the scene chucking ideas left and right and fishing for something to relate to my scene partner about. I think it’s drilled into every improviser’s head that you need to be on the same page as your scene partner; however, what I struggle with at times is drawing that common ground from the initiation without sacrificing my character’s perspective and/or integrity.
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   My sister and I have been doing our two person improv show for nearly three years now, and we have found a few things that help maximize the minimum effort for a show. We have developed the following Guide to Working Smart or Energy Efficient or Lazy Improv. However, we don’t really like to use the word lazy, as it gets a bad rap. The image of two talking-head blobs sitting on stage, eating object-worked junk food, and flipping channels with an object-worked remote, comes to mind. Our guide is how to get the most out of the minimum. You might it call the mini-max of improv.

   Here are some general guidelines…
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   “We need you to volunteer”

   “Volunteer for what?”

   “We’ll give you 200 euros”

   “200 euros for what?”

   “200 euros and we’ll put you up at a very nice hotel”

   “Ok, I really don’t get it”

   “We’ve overbooked the flight”

   “Nope, sorry, I really prefer not to volunteer”

   I hate being hassled at the airport. Well, ok, so I’m not normally hassled at the airport, but on this particular day I certainly was hassled.

   “You’re flying unaccompanied, yes?”

   “That’s right, but I have places to be tomorrow”

   “Are you sure you don’t want to volunteer?”

   “I’m not volunteering”

   “Ok, voila, here is your boarding pass Mademoiselle”

   “You forgot the seat number”

   “That is not how we do it here at Air France Mademoiselle”

   “That’s crazy. I’ve never been given a boarding pass without a seat number assigned”

   “Tres bien, Mademoiselle, but that is not how we do it here at Air France”

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   Follow the Fear is my very favorite improv motto. I used to think the message behind it was simply do improv (like it’s scary, but do it anyway). While this is still a highly relevant part of the expression for me the words have become more than just bury the insecurities and get on stage.

   I do a two woman improv show with my sister. About a year ago we were rehearsing and I began a scene as a creepy guy hitting on the barista in a Starbucks – a very basic scene and it felt so wrong! She is my sister and I just couldn’t do it for so many reasons. So, I changed my initial idea when things became uncomfortable. Our coach stopped me and called my crap out on the carpet. He knew I initiated as a creepy guy hitting on a barista and asked why I hesitated to follow through with my initial instinct. The more natural scene progression unfolds when you follow your fear even when leads to an uncomfortable place. Comedy is not pretty.
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My first experience with improv took place when I was traveling in Europe with a friend from Chicago who was insistent that we see an improv comedy show. Being from Chicago she was completely ready and psyched for what was about to happen. I had no idea what improv was nor was I in the habit of seeing comedy shows. The theater was cabaret style and seated about 150. The place was packed and everyone was just a few sheets to the wind. Halfway through the show it was audience participation time. The cast did not ask for or take volunteers. Instead they came out into the audience with a video recorder and stopped directly in front of me. Being a naturally more reserved person I was genuinely horrified and wished I had had more than my regular standby one glass of rosé. What followed was an interview with me up on the big screen in the theater and than a series of scenes ripping apart and making fun of everything I had said. It was awful.
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